Saying Goodbye

I know i have been home a week and havent even told everyone all about the mess that was my travel home to the states. i apologize for that. i have been trying to adjust to being back in the states and have been super busy during that process. plus i know that if i wrote something too soon after getting back it would inevitably end up very emo and i know not everyone needs to read all about that. anyways....

we had to get up early in the morning so that we could be ready for when his uncle martin came to pick us up. the drive to the airport seemed sooo long. but in a bad way. Alex sat in the front and i was in the back by myself. the radio was turned up so i couldnt really hear the conversation in the front - leaving me alone in the back in silence. lol. how sad and emo and pain stakingly long the drive was. something i had dreaded since i had arrived. finding our way around the airport was slightly difficult but then Alex and i finally got a few minutes to say our goodbyes. as always, it was full of tears and sadness. its something that never gets easier. i cant tell you how much i didnt want to leave him......

the plane ride to Amsterdam was fine. nothing went wrong. after landing i thought i had a bit longer than i was supposed to so i wondered around the shops before realizing that i needed to get moving to my terminal. found it with no problems....and then i sat there and waited. and waited. and waited. the plane arrived 1 hour after it was scheduled. the plane was a huge 747 so there was piles of people waited to board. i ended up sitting between to guys reading my book and people watching. i was very distracted by this family that stood near where i was seated. what kept my attention so much was who i assumed (which i know is a thinking error, lol) were a set of twins. they looked identical - freckles, curly Orange hair, same age - but acted quite disturbing towards one another. the were behaving as if they were dating, not brother and sister. their fingers were intertwined, she stroked the back of his arm, they kept kissing one another on the cheek, he kissed her neck a few times, they were playfully nudging one another.....it was very odd. they thing is, the boy was doing some of the same to who i assume was the father, minus the kissing. i wasnt the only one that noticed, a lot of people were very distracted by this display. it was very odd.

finally we boarded the plane. and continued to sit there for an additional hour before moving from the dock. the only thing they would tell us about this 1 hr 40 min delay was that there was 'paperwork issues' they had to sort out before taking off.....thats all we ever heard. the flight went ok once we got into the air and we eventually landed safely. however, the in flight safety video had to be restarted 3 times and the lights were all flashy during his time as well. they said it was an error in the video and kept restarting it. once we finally took off their was no more electrical problems. i sat next to a girl that was returning from backpacking through Europe with her friend. she grew up in Iowa so that was kinda nice. we didnt really talk much after the first few hours. i ended up watching 3 movies and playing some of the electronic games.

once we landed i was stressed about making my connecting flight from Detroit into cedar rapids. customs went quickly but the luggage took forever. time came and went and i missed my flight waiting for my luggage to come down. most people had connecting flights and we were all herded into another line where they would tell us which flights they put us on or if we had to stay the night in Detroit. when i got to the front of the line the lady told me 25 people flying to cedar rapids had to stay over in Detroit. i dont think there was any way there was that many people travelling to Iowa. she said this was because their was only one additional flight into cedar rapids that night and it was already overbooked. again, i think that was a lie. the cedar rapids airport is small, but there never are full flights going in or coming out. not that i have ever been on ayways. the lady told me i was lucky and that i could make the flight to cedar rapids if i hurried. i told her i would try. little did i know the huge mess that would end up being.

she game me the most awkward directs on how to get to the terminal i needed. and, of course, it included taking a shuttle bus to the other side of the airport with all of my luggage. just so everyone knows, i had 2 large suitcases that barely weighed under the 100 lb limit each, a carry on full of shoes and other heavy items, and my purse. luckily i managed to find one of those trolley things to lug it all in. it helped a lot. once i found the place where i needed to be to get onto the trolley i was lost within the wave of hotel trams and buses. i had no clue what this trolley looked like or where to find it. i asked a pilot that was smoking a cigarette outside where i needed to go. he told me that they should have never put me on that flight because there wasnt going to be enough time to recheck my luggage and get over there before the gates were closed. specially because the trolley i needed only came once every 15 min to half hour and i was already crunched for time. he stood there with me until i found one....which he flagged down for me. the trolley stopped, opened its door, and told me he could not stop to pick me up. he then drove off. the pilot told me the only way i was going to make it would be to catch a $30 taxi.....

eventually i caught a trolley and the driver helped me load everything on the trolley. the drive was soooo slow. of course by the time we finally got there and i unloaded all of my stuff it was too late. but i had no choice but to find the american airlines desk and ask them what the hell to do next. i ended up making it to the terminal at 818...and the plane was to leave at 825. the gates were closed and i wasnt allowed to board. i had to hall all of my luggage, without the luggage kart, all the way back to the other side of the airport. so i took a trolley and made my way back to the delta airlines desk. one of the hertz bus drivers saw me struggling with my luggage and offered to help. neither of us had change to get me a luggage kart so he found a stray wheelchair to do the job.

nearly 2 hours after i had landed in Detroit i finally made it back to the delta airlines desk. the lady was very helpful and set me up with a room in a hotel for the night, some meal vouchers, and a flight home the next morning at 830 am. again, i had to return to the wave of buses and trolleys and find the one for my hotel. which wasnt labelled i might add. the van ride only took 10 minutes, and it was full of delta airlines fliers that had been given other flights, only one of which was from my Amsterdam flight. we all swapped stories on the ride over and waited in line together at the hotel desk.

the hotel was ok, i didnt sleep very much, and i was overly tired. since my cell phone was out of service i had to borrow a mans cell phone in the airport to call my family and tell them that i was staying in Detroit. of course, nobody answered their phones so i left a million answers. i thanked the man and continued on my way. not 2 minutes later he returned with a call from my dad. lol. it was amusing. so anyways, once i was in the hotel i made at $20 phone call to my dad to tell him all my plans. and i managed to speak to Alex as well so he wouldnt worry. then i showered and ordered room service of a mushroom swiss burger. and went to bed.

i set 4 alarms that night so that i would most definitely be able to wake up and get to the airport on time. i did. and made my nearly empty flight into cedar rapids. it went smoothly and by that time i was more than ready to be home....even tho i never wanted to leave England in the first place.

to summarize - delta airlines sucks, people that are travelling really are friendly and nice to make small talk with, and siblings really shouldnt act like a dating couple in public....oh yeah, and i was sad to end my England adventure without a job and not knowing when id be back. the summer was unforgettable and i have people in England that i care about, and that care about me. i feel divided and people will always be missing me. that sucks.

Livin in the 80s and formal dinner parties

so here is what i was up to the last bit of when i was in England. i was sooo busy trying to make the most of every minute i had left in the UK that i didnt bother trying to get on here to update everyone. im really sorry.....

so basically Alex had nearly the entire last week i was in England off of work. we were very busy trying to get everything all ready for his cousins 21st 80s themed birthday party in a pub down the road. getting ready for it was a blast! we searched for weeks online and in shops for all of the bits and pieces to our costumes. i went as a cupcake doll and Alex as scrooge mcduck. i wore a bridesmaids dress with some sparkle fabric over the top and painted an umbrella hat then glued sparkle sprinkles on top of it. Alex had a duck beak that we glued glasses on, a top hat, i made him duck feet, and he found a blue overcoat. it was way fun! turns out that Alex, Anna, and i were one of the only people to show up in Fancy dress. and there wasnt many people there total.....but it was fun to get all dressed up and to see all of his family at the pub.

the next day we had to wait up to 3 am in order to ensure that his parents were awake to leave for their flight to turkey. they had to drive a ways to get to the correct airport so they left the house at 430. poor Alex wasnt feeling the best so he napped a bit while we waited up. Anna had left earlier in the day to stay with friends of the family for a week until she joins her parents a bunch of family friends in turkey. how nice that must be!

after that Alex and i had the house to ourselves for the rest of the time i was there....granted it was only a few days, but it was still very nice to get some privacy and nobody to bug us. unfortunately, Alex was really sick that first day (this past Sunday) so he took lots of naps and lots of breaks between our cleaning and cooking for the formal dinner party. we were invited that night to have dinner at his grandmas house with his aunt and uncle. luckily the spicy homemade soup cured him! it made him sweat like no other but he was feeling so much better after that meal.

the entire next day we cooked all of the food for the formal dinner party we were hosting. pictures are on facebook courtesy of Sarah. attendants ended up being graham, Sarah, Luke, Jo, Gordan, and Grant. it was so super fun! we cleaned hardcore and downloaded classical music, decorated with candles and place settings and flowers. the menu consisted of a mushroom starter with garlic cream sauce over homemade melbatoast, bourbon chicken accompanied by lemon wedge potatoes, veggie paella for those that dont eat meat, and beautiful fresh orange cream parfaits with double orange delight as an alternative. it all ended up very yummy and everyone seemed to enjoy it. the rest of the night was full of drinking and chatting and card games and music. it was a wonderful way to end my trip! 4 of them made me a british dressed build-a-bear with a voicebox recording of them saying hello and telling me the bears name (Bartholomew). people brought wine and flowers and chocolate, and a couple people made toasts to me - saying they would miss me and that they felt i was part of their group. it was sooo very sweet of them.

tuesday was my last day in England so Alex and i didnt bother to clean everything up, just some of it. i packed my things once everyone from the dinner party that stayed had left and we just kinda hung out and enjoyed the time we had left. lots of cuddling and tv watching, some wii sports thrown in there....a delicious tortellini lunch, and pizza for dinner. then some Big Bang Theory (my new favorite show) and bed. it was a great ending.....even tho there was quite a bit of crying.